I look back at the posts from a year ago… yikes. I think my writing has definitely improved since then. (Please don’t go read those. It’s painful sometimes…) I’m still planning on continuing to write here, since reviews are something I’ve always enjoyed. On that note, I’d like to apologize for not posting much. It’s been a rough month, and I haven’t had much time to either watch new movies (except for some musicals – post on that soon) or play new games. However, I just picked up a few slightly older DS games, and I’ll be posting my thoughts on those in the next couple weeks, along with some TV recaps as seasons finish up in the next couple months.

Since this is an anniversary post, I’m going to talk about something that I both enjoy immensely, and has been oddly popular in the past year. That thing is superheroes!

First off, I don’t have a preference between DC and Marvel. I love both of them equally. My favorite characters are divided fairly equally between the two, the heroes being (in no particular order) The Flash (either Barry or Wally), Daredevil, Green Lantern (John Stewart), and Captain America. I also enjoy a good villain, however, and those are (in no particular order) The Reverse-Flash, Harley Quinn, Green Goblin, Magneto, and Doctor Doom. (Personally, I find DC’s villains to be far more memorable, but they’re not my favorites. Weird.) A lot of these have shown up on the screen recently, or they’re about to.

TV and movies have been saturated with superheros in the past few years. We’ve gotten Arrow, The Flash – and soon Vixen – from the CW, with those shows not only featuring the title character, but other heroes as well (Ray Palmer/Atom along with maybe a future Green Lantern from Diggle on Arrow, some hints of Vibe from Cisco on The Flash…) I’m looking forward to Vixen, honestly. However, the CW is not the only one producing superhero television – Netflix is releasing Daredevil soon (yay!), ABC has Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D (started slow, got good at the end of season 1) and Fox has Gotham (ehh… I’m watching it out of a morbid fascination with where they can take it next at this point…) Fan series of varying quality abound, and the movie industry has schedules for their Marvel and DC films. Needless to say, I don’t see a lack of superhero material in the next three years. Avengers 2, The Flash (why couldn’t you have put Grant Gustin in there!?), Doctor Strange, and two Justice League movies (Looking forward to Dawn of Justice!). I’ve also recently started in on reading comic books, and there’s no shortage of content there, either.

So why is that? Why are superheroes so popular in our culture at this time?

The truth is, I’m not entirely sure. I’m planning on writing an essay exploring that question. My initial thoughts are that we look for heroes, people who fight for the greater good. We have everyday heroes such as the police, firefighters, our military, but they can’t save everyone. People want a hero, someone who takes care of the things that the police can’t catch. Muggings, small-time robberies, a house fire where the firefighters can’t go in. We look up to our everyday heroes – but what if there was someone who did all those things for no credit or reward?

And to go with that hero, there must be a villain. Someone who poses a true threat – someone with no remorse or moral qualms. The Flash, the fastest man alive, has the Reverse-Flash, faster than him. Batman, grim and down-to-earth, has the Joker, a giggling psychopath. Captain America has Red Skull, the antithesis of what he believes in. Without a villain to keep stirring up trouble, our hero has no long-term reason to go on, to improve. We watch and read these heroes and villains battle it out for years, winning individual confrontations, although neither side ever truly wins the war. We cheer the heroes on, boo the villains. We appreciate a well-played plot on either side, and we spend our time wishing we were heroes too.

Granted, these issues can get iffy in real life. Is vigilante justice a good thing or a bad thing? I’m inclined to believe that vigilante justice is fine. Not everyone is cut out to be a police officer, and not everyone wants the credit. They just want to make a difference. I think that, quite possibly, that’s the crux of the matter. We want to make a difference – we just don’t know how. So we look to the screen and comics to find someone who does make a difference, and we idolize them. I think there are definitely worse things we could do – at least with superheroes, we can gain something good – confidence, a desire to help others. Superheroes impact people in ways that we can’t always measure immediately, but eventually show up in a choice, words, or just general behavior. And all through this, we continue to cheer on both our everyday heroes and our fictional supers.

I’ll step off my soapbox now, but what do you think? Are superheroes just a temporary thing, or are they an integral part of society that will never leave?

There were quite a few films released this year that I ended up really enjoying despite previous worries, such as if the book would allow for a split in the middle (Mockingjay – Part 1), if it would end up destroying a character I had always loved to hate (Maleficent), or simply be a poor sequel to what I considered a fantastic movie and group of characters (Muppets Most Wanted). However, some movies really stood out to me this year. Let’s take a look at them. Movies are in order of release date.

1. The Lego Movie (February 7)

I know it’s gotten some hate, but I really enjoyed The Lego Movie. Is it cheesy? Yes. Does it have a ridiculous amount of cliches? Depends on who you ask. I prefer to call them tropes. But this movie has two things going for it – LEGO Batman, and the LEGO ability to make fun of itself. This makes everything awesome.

Despite the aforementioned possible issues and bonuses, The LEGO Movie hit my top favorites for two reasons: it’s family-friendly (that’s a big deal around here) and it (with an open mind on the viewer’s part) appeals to everyone from children to adults. I even know some teenagers who like it. Overall, I give it a 7/10, the EftM stamp of geek approval, and an appropriate for everyone over 6 (there are some mildly scary parts, but everything being built out of LEGOs, it’s all bloodless and even the scary parts are slightly funny.)

2. Captain America: The Winter Soldier (April 4)

I enjoyed the original, yes. Could it have been improved? Probably. I thought it was good though, as Captain America is one of my favorite superheroes of all time and Chris Evans plays him well. However, despite some unfortunate spoilers from Marvel on the identity of the Winter Soldier, this movie pushed Captain America to an all-time high in awesomeness. Captain America uses his super-soldier abilities to a higher degree than previously seen in either The First Avenger or The Avengers, and it really is cool. Of course, S.H.I.E.L.D is no more, and I honestly did not see that little plot twist coming. I assume S.H.I.E.L.D will get rebuilt at some point. Maybe in time for the next major movie requiring one or more of the Avengers?

Overall, it’s a Marvel movie. It hit my favorites because a) it’s Captain America and b) it’s an awesome movie. Of course, it has issues, like most movies. There’s profanity and plenty of violence. Despite that, The Winter Soldier is a fun superhero movie that shows the blurry lines between right and wrong. 8/10, appropriate for 13 and up.

3. Guardians of the Galaxy(August 1)

Normally, I’d say it’s a bad sign when Marvel is making movies about groups and heroes that I didn’t know existed (example: Ant-Man… that’ll be interesting), but in this case, it works. I enjoyed Guardians of the Galaxy, despite not even knowing such a group existed in the Marvel universe prior to this film. Sure, it was a bit cheesy, and it had some issues logic and content-wise, but it was still a good movie. Of course, seeing it at 11 at night probably didn’t hurt either. Following a rather mismatched group of mercenaries and assassins who decide to do some good for once, Guardians of the Galaxy introduces us to the Infinity Stones. This is where the logic issues come in. Sometimes, the Infinity Stone in question causes the user to explode. Sometimes it doesn’t. Sometimes a group can share the power and live. Sometimes, they explode anyways. It was all very confusing.

As with Captain America, I have to say that it was very Marvel. Lots of explosions, general awesomeness, some profanity, and plenty of violence. It was an enjoyable two hours though. 7/10, recommended 14 and up.

4. Big Hero 6 (November 7)

I’m noticing a lot of Marvel movies on my watch list this year. No, this one isn’t under the Marvel logo, but it is based off a Marvel team of the same name. I was pleasantly surprised by this film. Funny personal story goes with this film too – I was on a Disney cruise (yay!) and went to see this in the Buena Vista Theater onboard. It’s 11 at night, and the grandpa sitting behind my mom and I fell asleep only a few minutes in. This wouldn’t have been funny, except for the fact that he snored very loudly. This made everyone in the theater laugh, and it certainly cheered up the general mood in the theater during the depressing parts.

The audience for this movie in general was much more interactive than a normal movie audience, boosting the movie enjoyment. However, the movie itself was beautifully animated, and the city of San Fransokyo was an amazing mix of San Fransisco and Tokyo. The storyline was also pretty good, and I liked the characters. It also gets bonus points for being family-friendly, and for being less about superheroes and more about family and friends. Plus, Baymax is adorable. I want one. 9/10, recommended 7 and up.

5. Honorable Mention – The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies (December 14)

I put this one on here for one reason – it’s the final chapter in the Hobbit trilogy and the end of the Tolkien motion picture series (until, y’know, someone decides they aren’t good enough and remakes them with an inferior cast in fifteen or twenty years.) I haven’t seen it yet, but a group of my friends went and they said it was amazing. I trust their judgement, but I’ll probably update with a Theater Thursday when I go see this in the next week or two. My guess from other reviews I’ve seen, and what my friends said? I’ll probably love it, give it a 9/10, and say it’s appropriate for 14 and up.

In the end, there were some great films released this year, and some not so great ones, just like every year since the beginning of movies. However, the next two/three years look to be promising (to geeks especially), so here’s to a new year in film!